Almost 1,200 violent crimes have taken place in Tower Hamlets between January and September where the victim and the suspect are related, FOI data reveals.

A total of 1,194 crimes committed between family members were reported in the borough - this is roughly 6 per cent of all crimes and 16 pc of all violent crimes.

This is in line with the London-wide average.

Intra-family crime is defined as any offence where the victim is related either through blood, marriage, civil partnership or guardianship to the suspect.

The full scale of the problem is likely to be considerably worse than these figures suggest — it is widely acknowledged domestic crimes are significantly less likely to be reported than other types of crime.

Unmesh Desai, London Assembly member for east London, said: “We do not really know the full scale of what is going on.”

Other intra-family crimes that have taken place in Tower Hamlets between January and September are 75 sexual offences, six robberies, 12 burglaries, nine vehicle offences, 39 thefts and 115 incidents of criminal damage and arson.

There were also three drugs offences, two weapons possessions and 14 other offences.

Across London, intra-family crime levels have been getting worse in recent years.

There were 40,154 such offences in 2014, 45,666 in 2015 and 46,410 in 2016.

London Assembly member Len Duvall, who has campaigned against domestic abuse, said: “It is deeply concerning that so many violent crimes are committed by family members of the victim, but it is sadly not surprising.

“Over three quarters of domestic abuse crimes across England and Wales are violent and it is clear many of these offences are between family members.”

One in ten of all reported offences are related to domestic abuse, he adds — adding “every one of these incidents is an atrocity.”

Mr Duvall and Mr Desai have campaigned for the introduction of a Domestic Abusers Register, which would operate in a similar way to the Sex Offenders Register, and allow for criminals’ records to be easily traced.

Neighbouring Newham has the highest number of recorded intra-family crimes, recording 1,807 between January and September, 1,460 of which were violent.

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